Victoria pickleball players organize food drive and tournament

The tournament medals, made from wood grown on Vancouver Island, are shown. (CTV News)

What do you get when you combine a food donation drive with a sport that sounds like a food?

Well, that would be the Annual Christmas Pickleball Tournament taking place this Saturday at G.R. Pearkes Recreation Centre in Saanich, B.C.

The tournament is hosted by the Victoria Regional Pickleball Association (VRPA) and people are invited to come watch and learn about the fastest growing sport in Canada as 64 of the association’s players battle it out for unique island-grown alder medals.

"We invite people to come in," said Connie McCann, president of the Victoria Regional Pickleball Association.

"We’ll have chairs set up, room to stand. We have demonstration paddle tables, we’ve got people walking around who will give information about the play that’s going on," she said.

Organizers of the event are asking the public and players to bring a non-perishable food item for the Mustard Seed Food Bank and help those in need during the holiday season.

"We are very happy to support the Mustard Seed Food Bank," said McCann. "We encourage the whole community to give at this time of the year to a great organization."

The Annual Christmas Pickleball Tournament will also represent the first time the local pickleball association will have a tournament sponsor: Shift Energy Group Inc, which is a renewable energy company specializing in solar power.

VRPA is pleased with the recent relationship with Shift Solar, according to McCann, who says, "We are looking to the pickleball future and the quest for a dedicated pickleball indoor facility powered by clean affordable energy. A facility that would both reduce costs and improve sustainability in our regional community."

The event runs from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 10.